Technological Supercycle: trends and perspectives for the future

We are in an era of constantly growing technology, new ideas, and new projects emerging every second towards an increasingly automated future.

Every year, FTI (Future Today Institute) makes a report on the Technological Trends predicted for that year. We have already addressed the topic of technological trend predictions for 2024 before and we can see how much, in just a few months, There has been a development that may indicate a shift in the way we live.

At SXSW 2024 (South by Southwest), one of the largest innovation festivals in the world, this year’s Tech Trends was presented, where 900 trends were analyzed within 16 themes, including medicine and health, news and entertainment, sports, finance, space, biotechnology, climate, energy, among others. From this analysis, it was possible to understand the emergence of the so-called “Technological Supercycle”.

But after all, what is a supercycle?

In economics, we call it a supercycle, substantial and sustained structural changes in the economy, it is a period of expansion in demand, where the prices of raw materials rise, which can last for years. The technological supercycle is a wave of innovation driven by a series of advances that can transform the economy and how we live.

The last recorded supercycle was what we know as the “Information Age”, which happened in the middle, almost the end of the 20th century, with the development of the computer and the internet, revolutionizing communication and information.

Unlike the last ones, the current supercycle is being driven by three different technologies, while the last ones, like the Industrial Revolution, had only one: Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, and Connected Ecosystems, also known as the Internet of Things.

Artificial Intelligence

In a way, artificial intelligence is integrated across all topics and is expected to undergo significant consolidation. The point is that the development of AI needs a lot of resources, so technology giants end up taking over this area.

AI is revolutionizing how machines learn, process information, and make decisions, tools are evolving to start from basic ideas and build complex thoughts. But attention and alert are needed regarding the availability of open source models, because, since anyone has unmonitored access, there is no possibility of holding those responsible for distributing these models responsible if they are used for negative and dangerous purposes.

Artificial Intelligence is the main pillar of the technological supercycle, today where we have generative AI creating content and influencing decisions, moving towards remodeling creativity, work, and social norms.

Biotechnology

Another megatrend within the technological supercycle is Biotechnology, with a new type of AI in evidence, Organoid Intelligence – or artificial intelligence from organoids. It is a technology that uses living cells as a computer. It looks like something from a movie, but it is already being developed, an example is GNoME, from Deepmind, which is creating new proteins based on AI tests. Computational engineering and biology scientists connected a “brain organoid”, which is a laboratory structure that imitates the human brain, directly to an artificial intelligence system using the neural tissue itself to complement the tasks performed.

Biotechnology has been responsible for moving technology beyond the systems created by Silicon Valley, allowing advances in medicine, agriculture, and other fields, with the potential to improve the quality of life, IO (Organoid Artificial Intelligence) is becoming a growing field that uses biological material and 3D cultures of human brain cells to replicate information processing.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is a key component of the technological supercycle; it links actual items to the Internet, allowing them to communicate and interact with one another and their surroundings. Connected Ecosystems are becoming more prevalent, and wearable devices with sensors capable of gathering human visual and sensory data are becoming increasingly common in people’s daily lives. With the recent launch of the Apple Vision Pro and Galaxy Ring, we see a wave of data collection.

Even though it is still in development, it has enormous potential to transform the way we live. However, some challenges need to be overcome, the risk of these connected devices is in the constant reading of the user’s reaction, which reveals their intentions, this means that the devices will be able to predict actions before they are taken, with the collection of Constant data is transformed into an interface for everyday life and this could represent a fundamental shift in the way we use technology.

Opportunities and Challenges

The current supercycle has the potential to bring great improvements to humanity, such as solutions to major global challenges such as climate change, increasing productivity and efficiency in various areas, and improving people’s quality of life.

The challenge is how to ensure that these waves of news do not fall into the trap of being controlled by a few “technological messiahs”, who will try to sell how to save the world by technologies that their companies themselves command.

It is critical to be vigilant against potential societal difficulties, such as social inequality, in which the advantages of technology are not evenly spread, and the prospect of mass unemployment for unskilled labor.

It is critical to invest in education and training to equip the workforce for the new skills demanded by the digital economy, ensuring that technologies are utilized ethically and responsibly.

The supercycle’s future remains undetermined, but it will have a huge influence on society and the planet we live in.